Far Away
by Reyser
Summary: She felt herself trembling. Here he was, so close, just in front of her, close enough to grasp. Yet he was so far away, so distant, and his love was something that would never be hers. Zelink, one-shot. AU


**Disclaimer: Me no own nothing. Don't expect me to.**

**A/N: What is UP with me and somewhat depressing stories? I was listening to this beautiful piano song, and I was suddenly inspired. However, I should update before writing one-shots, eh? **

**At least this one has fluff in it.**

**You know the drill. One-shot (if you haven't already figured out) and Zelink.**

**Warning: If you can't stand cheesy stories, then I highly suggest you don't bother reading.**

**Shall we begin? *skips off on the yellow brick road***

**...**

"_Sometimes__you're not afraid of letting go, you're just afraid of accepting the fact that it's gone."_

_- Anonymous_

Winter. Winter was a depressing season, wind whipping around violently and snow falling down, cloaking the world in uttermost whiteness. He hated winter.

Link shivered, and pulled his coat tighter around himself. Snowflakes fell down in as the tiniest crystals, and a thin, white coat of pure white blanketed the ground. Footprints were scattered around, and the cold air chilled him to the bone.

He shivered again, and lifted his face to the sky, feeling the cold sensation of snow.

Each snowflake fell softly by itself, bringing a sad, sorrowful message. As far away as they are from each other, upon reaching the ground, they clumped together, strong and united.

It brought a message of togetherness, a message of love and strength.

_Love. _That was something Link had given up a while ago on. Love no longer existed in his heart. Many called him heartless or cruel- but the real word was weak, in all truth.

It was his fault, of course. He was too damned weak, too damned scared, wasn't fast enough or strong enough, and had lost her.

The bitter memory bit into his soul. He'd been young. Young, foolish, carefree.

_It was a Friday night, beautiful blankets of white falling all around. It looked perfect, icicles ornamenting the worlds in the most beautiful way. He loved winter._

_He twisted the ring in his hands. Tonight was the night, that they would be more than just dating. He'd practised this moment many times in front of the mirror, practised his words._

_He imagined their future together._

"_You ready, Link?" She asked, meeting his eyes._

"_Yes. We've got the night all planned." It seemed perfect, a perfect plan- just a quiet dinner and then a walk around the park. It was simple enough, yet romantic enough for him._

_It didn't show, but butterflies nestled in his stomach. At the restaurant, all was tranquil. Soft music played, each note sailing peacefully in his ears. She looked beautiful, of course, red hair shining, blue eyes dancing._

_Perfection at the least, he'd thought. The night started beautifully- almost like it was straight out of a dream. The food was perfect, and everything was quiet and sweet. They'd started out with a sweet conversation, and it was all dreamy and perfect..._

_...until the nightmare began._

_The doors burst open, people gasped and someone fainted. Big, burly men stormed in, with guns and knives. Link jolted up._

"_Marin! Get back! Get to the corner!" He yelled, gesturing her to the corner. She didn't understand, but the grief and fear was painted easily on his face. She huddled in the corner, frightened to death. _

_A gun was pointed at Link. His heart began to speed up._

"_What have we got here? Lovebirds, eh?" One of the burly men had said, smirking. Link cursed under his breath._

"_Ganon, stop fooling around. We're here to get a job done, and we'll get it done right." One of the other men had said fiercely. "Which one of you is Marin?"_

_He looked at Marin. A silent prayer to the Goddesses, that she wouldn't move, she wouldn't answer, would ignore the man. _

_All was quiet._

_The man rushed forward, and held the gun to Link's head._

"_Damn!" Link yelled, and the gun pressed harder against his head. Marin looked scared, shocked. _

"_Tell me- or else he dies." More silence. "Guess you don't care, eh? I'm not afraid to shoot him." The gun pressed into his head harder. Link squeezed his eyes shut. He was scared, terribly scared. Fear etched itself into his heart._

"_I'm Marin." She said, voice trembling._

"_Damnit! Why did you have to say that?" He yelled, anger and fear whirling around. The nightmare had become real._

_It all happened so fast, within seconds. A flash, a ringing sound. A gunshot. Glass shattering, blood seeping on the floor. Somebody screaming- Link realized later on, that it was him._

_The night the nightmare became real._

_The police arrived a moment too late. The murderers escaped, leaving him there alone. The police questioned him- Link didn't know anything. It was all too fast. Death was too fast. It all was too fast, too brutal._

_But he had to face facts- she was dead, murdered, her killers were still on the loose, people blamed him, and he should have died instead._

Link felt the shivers creeping up his spine at the cruel memories. He'd loved, and well, he'd lost.

Life just wasn't fair to him. Nothing was fair. After the incident, he cut himself off from love altogether. He didn't allow himself to get close to anybody, and covered his own heart in heavy chains, locked it tight.

The key to his heart was lost years ago that night.

He continued walking, and locked the memories away.

**...**

Within minutes, he arrived at a house. This was his sanctuary, the home of the only person he actually trusted.

He rang the doorbell nonchalantly.

"Hello?" She opened the door, and her face brightened up immediately at the sight of him. "Link..? It's been too long. Come in." She gestured him inside.

Shrugging off his coat, Link looked around. It was the same house they'd played hide-and-go-seek in as children, the same house they grew up together in, and the same house he went to when all seemed lost.

"Zelda. How are you?" He asked, and followed after her.

"Good. Life is hard, eh? Can I get you something? Coffee, water, tea?" She scrambled over the counter, looking for something. Her golden hair fell about her shoulders in a girlishly messy way.

"No, it's alright. Nothing is fine with me."

"You sure?" She regarded him with violet eyes. It was all a lie, really. He acted like nothing was wrong- he tried to be strong. Never opened up to anyone, and it was hard for him to trust anyone.

He blamed himself.

Zelda watched him, feeling a pang of guilt. Marin didn't know what she had. She didn't know how important Link was.

To Zelda, it never seemed like a real relationship. It didn't even seem like real love.

_Like I know what real love is. _She thought, and followed him into the living room.

Link collapsed on the couch in a heap.

"I can't forget- always happens, the memories. Everything."

"You mustn't think it was your fault, Link."

"But it was. I wasn't strong enough- I should have let him kill me. She would still be alive if I did."

"But-"

"I regret it all the time. Whenever winter comes, that's all I can think about. It torments me."

"You could have died!" She said, a bit more forceful than she intended. "It was for your own good, Link. She didn't want you to get hurt."

"I would have died? You'd rather she died instead of me?" He slammed his fists on the table and stood up. Zelda couldn't understand whether he was angry or hurt. Maybe both.

It hurt, to see him like this. She just wanted to help him, anyway. Yet he didn't see. He didn't see that she loved him more than just a friend- he was too hung up on the past.

"You don't understand, Zelda! You can pretend you do- but you don't understand what it feels like to have someone you love ripped away from you!" He was yelling now.

Zelda stood up, lower lip trembling slightly.

"I do, Link. I know what it's like to have somebody dear to your heart ripped away. Just not in the way you do."

It was true, in all sense. She loved him. His happiness was Zelda's only goal- but Marin came in between that. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he was blaming himself and lamenting on her loss when Marin didn't even love him. It wasn't fair that he'd just forgotten her, and then came back when he had nothing else.

"She didn't love you, Link!" Zelda blurted.

There it was. The ugly, horrible truth. The twisted lies fell apart and the painful truth set in.

_She didn't love you._

"Of course she did! You have no right to talk like that about her!"

"Why, Link?" Her voice was trembling. "Why do you care so much?"

"I don't care if she 'didn't love me.' Because I know deep in my heart that she did, alright? If she didn't love me, she would have let me die." He got up and began to gather his coat, heading for the door.

"Link, wait!" Zelda ran after him hopelessly. "Don't leave. I'm sorry, please, just _listen to me and stop being so damned stubborn!"_

"I'm being damned stubborn?" He whirled around and faced her, blue eyes wild. His eyes were like the sea- rough and uncontrollable, yet beautiful. Endless.

"Stubborn and blind!"

Silence.

"You don't understand that I've been trying to help you recover and that I care for you, Link! You need to move on. Leave it in your past! It won't bring her back, but do you think she wants you to live like this?" She broke down, tears streaming down her face. Zelda hated crying. It made her feel vulnerable, weak, helpless. "You don't understand that I love you, alright?"

Zelda loved him?

Of course. It made sense. The protectiveness, the sweet smiles and the comforting words- it was all friendship and something beyond that. The puzzle pieces came together in a brutal truth.

He felt a pang in his chest. Here he was, blaming her, saying all these rude and senseless things about how he 'loved Marin' and 'missed her' and all those- when Zelda was right here, hurting inside.

"You can leave if you want. I'm just holding you down." She turned around, wiping her tears furiously.

Tears just kept falling, over and over. A sign of loving something that was never hers.

_It's my fault. _She thought. It was, after all, her fault that Link was angry and that he would never come back again, and she'd be lonely and lost and forlorn.

It was so much easier to just give up. Give up, forget, let go.

But it wasn't the fear of letting go. It was instead, the fear of accepting that he would never be hers. She could imagine things, but it would never happen.

She felt herself trembling. Here he was, so close, just in front of her, close enough to grasp. Yet he was so far away, so distant, and his love was something that would never be hers.

He left.

What did she expect? That he would stay? That he would hold her tight and say comforting words and apologies?

Silly. That only happened in movies, happy endings. Happy endings didn't happen in real life.

**...**

Link closed his eyes and wrapped the sheets tighter around himself. Zelda was right. He had to move on, he had to let go.

But he couldn't. It was too hard to accept the fact that she was gone and she wasn't coming back. Accepting never was his cup of tea, anyway.

Then her thought of Zelda. Sweet, kind Zelda who tried her best to comfort him, the one who always smiled and laughed and was just always so bright and cheery, had cried.

Because of him. Love was a problem. Conflict, even. His emotions were too unstable.

It wasn't so much the fact that he didn't love her- it was more that he was afraid to.

Scars of the past incident were still marked on his soul. It was just too risky. He wouldn't live his mistakes again.

But maybe, just maybe, he would take risks.

**...**

The doorbell rang. Zelda pulled her tired body out of bed and shuffled to the door, weak and tired.

_Who bothers to visit at this time at night?_

She yanked the door open furiously, and there he was, standing in the doorway. Just as handsome as ever.

"Oh. Hello, Link." She said flatly.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault, Zelda. I didn't want to let go, I didn't want to move forward. Can you ever forgive me?" His eyes looked pained, sorry. Sad, even. "I didn't notice your feelings, and I was being insensitive."

"It's not your fault, Link. If you still love her, than I can't do anything about that."

"Why can't you at least hate me for being such a terrible person?"

She just embraced him tenderly, her small hands clasped around at the back of his neck.

"I can never hate you, Link. Love doesn't work like that."

They stayed like that for a long time, just standing in the doorway. No words needed to be said.

The lock broke. The lock that bound his heart from loving for a long time- was broken. Just like that.

She breathed in his scent, that fresh, forest-like scent. It always smelled different from the usual scent, it felt free and wild.

Just like he was.

They didn't need to say they loved each other- they didn't need to admit it. It was the kind of thing that was spoken through actions, not words.

It was the kind of moment you wanted to encase in a bottle and open up again.

"You see that, Zelda?" He asked softly, and pointed to the lone star in the sky.

It was bright and shining, seemed so close, yet so far away. She watched it, mesmerized, looking so childishly cute

"It'll always be there for you. No matter how far away it seems, it'll always be there for you, no matter what. So when you feel lost and lonely, just look at that star."

Zelda watched it glimmering faintly, bright and beautiful, wild and calm. She reached out to touch it foolishly.

It seemed close, near, yet it was far.

_Because no matter how far away something is, it'll always there for you._

**... **_**FIN ...**_

**A/N: The beginning was depressing- BUT at least I fitted in the much-needed fluff!  
Haven't written fluffy stuffies in a while, baw. **

**So, I wrote that in my spare time when I was supposed to be showering (oops!). **

**I hoped you liked it, and if you're not dead from boredom yet, slip me a review?  
I LOVE REVIEWS. In all honesty, reviews are sososososososo important to me. I will love you forever if you review. (If I don't already, haaa~)**

***rides off on a rainbow***

**SLIP ME A REVIEW, EH?**


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